Hope of better life pushes Syrians to cross the Mediterranean

“12 member of my family, with many others were on a small old boat, in their frightening journey via Mediterranean sea to Italy” Hosam said.

He explained that their journey cost them $3500 for sea trip plus $2000 for land journey in Europe, each.

Usually the trafficking trip starts at North Africa coast especially in Libya or Egypt where people are transferred by rubber boat to fishing ones, which usually are too old and lack minimal standards of safety. They usually bought for that purpose; therefore they are chosen to be cheap to throw them away at Italy coast.

Many boats are painted with tar to prevent leakage, which make them smell awful, heavy, and unsafe and risk burning.

Hosam carried on telling his relatives’ dangerous trafficking trip: “after 3 days on boat, it broke down, and the human trafficker international mobile phone’s credit finished, and they were unable to communicate with anyone, and they stand still in the middle of sea for extra 2 days and their water was about to run out. Luckily, the trafficker’s friend called him, when he asked for help, and they were sent another trafficking boat carrying around 100 illegal immigrants, which nearly doubled the load on it”

The terrible journey did not finish at that point according to hosam, as the new boat broke down around 200 kilometer away from the Italian coast, when people on it divided into two opinions, one of them wanted to set up fire on the boat to draw the coastguards’ attention and rescue them, while the other part refused that idea as they were scared of taking their finger prints in Italy, which make it difficult for them to apply for asylum anywhere in Europe later.

Hosam added that setting off the trafficking trips from Egypt carry risk of shooting by the Egyptian coastguards, while starting from Libya, risks attacking by sea pirates, as they target illegal immigrants to get all their possessing, because they assume they carry most of their money and precious belongings.

UNHCR estimates that approximately 8,400 migrants and asylum-seekers landed on the coasts of Italy and Malta in the first six months of 2013

The peak crossing period for migrants and asylum-seekers runs from May to September.

For 2012 as a whole, some 15,000 migrants and asylum-seekers reached Italy and Malta (13,200 and 1,800 respectively) by sea.

UNHCR has recorded some 40 deaths in the first six months of 2013 by people attempting to cross the Mediterranean between North Africa and Italy. This number is based on interviews conducted with people who reached Europe using boats.

On the other hand, in 2012, almost 500 people were reported dead or missing at sea. The decrease in deaths so far in 2013 is thanks in part to the efforts of the Italian and Maltese authorities, in particular the Italian coastguard and the Maltese armed forces, in effectively coordinating rescue at sea.

This post first appeared at Eqtsad, Zaman Alwasl's Business Newspaper; Translation by Ysura Ahmed